checking if a string has special characters

Question

how would i check a string for special characters such as $%#, and numbers? I only want chars, ex abcd.

the only method i can think of is to make an arraylist of the alphabet and check each index to see if it is in the arraylist.

thanks

score 10 · Answer 1 · answered May 02 '11 at 01:38

10

RegEx is probably your best bet:

 Pattern p = Pattern.compile("[a-zA-Z]");
 Matcher m = p.matcher(sourceString);
 boolean b = m.matches();

answered May 02 '11 at 01:38

lukiffer

3

You could also shorten it by calling sourceSting.matches("[a-zA-Z]") – Zach May 02 '11 at 01:43
@Zach - ... at the cost of recompiling the pattern each time you do it. (Admittedly, @lukiffer's code doesn't hoist the pattern creation.) – Stephen C May 02 '11 at 04:32

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 02 '11 at 01:40

1

you can try a regex:

Pattern p = Pattern.compile("[^a-zA-Z]");
if(p.matcher(string).find()){
//something is not a letter
}

answered May 02 '11 at 01:40

ratchet freak

2 Answers2